Manhattan's season over after bounce from MAAC tourney

It was overcast and rainy as the Manhattan College baseball team bus pulled out of Niagara Falls for the seven-hour trek back to Riverdale. 

It was the appropriate backdrop for the Jaspers’ long ride home after they were bounced from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament at Sal Maglie Field after losses to Iona and Rider in the double-elimination tournament.

It certainly was not how the Jaspers thought things would pan out once they arrived at the MAAC tournament after sweeping a season-ending three-game set from St. Peter’s, and getting all the requisite help needed (see: losses) from four other conference teams that enabled Manhattan to earn its tourney spot. But the hoped-for extended stay never materialized as the Jaspers dropped a 5-1 decision to Iona in their opener before suffering a heartbreaking 5-4 defeat to Rider that sent the Jaspers packing.

“It was a rollercoaster, definitely,” Manhattan head coach Jim Duffy said of the past week. 

“But it was also kind of a reflection of how our whole season went. Just when we’d think we had things going and we were going to get to the next level, we’d have a setback — whether it would be an injury, or we’d drop a game that we should have won and we’d have to start over again.”

The Jaspers had their backs to the proverbial wall after the Iona loss and were mired in a 2-0 hole early against Rider after the Broncs plated a pair in the top of the fifth inning following a solo home run by Lee Lipinsky and an RBI double by Jake Bender. But Manhattan rallied for a three-spot in the bottom of the seventh after a two-run double by Brendan Bisset and a run-scoring single from Paul Sparano to grab a 3-2 lead. 

And with the way starting pitcher Joey Rocchietti was dealing, the Jaspers had to like their chances of surviving to play another day in the tournament.

But Rider got to Rocchietti, who was making the final start of his career, for a pair of runs in the top of the eighth on RBI singles by Tyler Kaiser and Lipinsky to cap a rally that began with two out and nobody on.

“They got a couple of hits when they needed them,” Duffy said. “Joey was good. For a senior in his last start, he was dominating early on, and it was the best I’ve seen him. He’s been starting in the rotation for me for the last for years. It was Joey’s game. That kid earned the right to stay in the game, so I stuck with him and I’d do it again. 

“But credit goes to Rider, they got a couple of big hits when they needed them.”

It was an anticlimactic finish to a tournament in which the Jaspers felt they would make a deep run. 

“We went from the euphoria of getting into the tournament to the disappointment of getting knocked out in two games,” Duffy said. “You pack up the bus for the seven-hour ride to Niagara Falls with big expectations. Then you go out against Iona and play a really good game, but Iona gets a couple of key hits and we weren’t able to get the big hit. Then against Rider it just finally all ran out on us.”

It was a bitter end to a season in which the Jaspers had to deal with their share of hardships that prevented them from reaching the heights Duffy thought were attainable.

“Our expectations were high, but this season we had a lot of adversity to deal with and we just couldn’t overcome it at the end,” Duffy said. That included losing senior shortstop Jose Carrera for an extended period of time as well as the season loss of senior starting pitcher Joe Jacques, part of the Jaspers’ weekend rotation. 

“And we also lost a few other contributors, so ultimately we are disappointed with the way it turned out,” Duffy said. “But I’m certainly proud of their effort and how they stuck together. They never gave up despite the tough times. 

“I’m just really proud of the group.”